post for 29 July 2002

Kaelung Preview!

As a Brotherhood of the Shensei player (Ronin as far as AEG is concerned) I find this card very offensive. Why are monks showing up with the Kolat trait?

Simple. The Brotherhood is not beyond their grasp.

I also thought they wanted to do away with the Kolat.

The story team and brand management at Wizards of the Coast wanted to let the Kolat fade away from the story, but the game is not currently being produced by WotC.

Ninja Clan Stronghold Que

Came back to the Ninja Clan open deck and thought of an issue concerning Test of Courage. Could Test of Courage be played to avoid being sent home by the Ninja Stronghold?

Yes. It cancels the entire Dark Path of Shadow action.

Seems like the Clan's major weakness.

Note that there is no limit to the number of times per battle that action can be used. The Dark Path player can attempt it again on his next chance to take an Open or Battle action.

Also, something I should already know, but can the Ring of Earth be played if there are no attacking units left in the battle after resolution?

Sure.

Rules Question (JEFF)

Hi Jeff, Question on targetting for you. According to the Dark Allies rulebook "An effect that targets a unit also targets the Personality leading it, and vice-versa." (pg 47). What about the other cards in the unit?

That rule does not extend beyond what it says.

Example: I have a unit with the Spirit Legion attached. The Spirit legion reads: Action cards and ranged attacks cannot target the Spirit Legion. My opponent tries to use Block Supply Lines to send my unit home. Is that legal?

Yes.

Rikugunshokan & Ambush

Hey there,

How do Rikugunshokan and Ambush interact ?

When I play Ambush with the Rik. guy, I just declared an attack and assigned him, right ?

Right.

A) Do I have to declare another attack ?

No.

B) Whether I have to or not, if I do, and thus cannot assign Rik. (bowed by Ambush), do I lose 2 Honor ?

No.

More tough : I still declare an Ambush during my turn, but this time I'm not using Rik.'s Personnality :

A) Do I lose 2 Honor since I just declared an attack and Rik was not assigned ? B) Whether I did lose them or not, do I have to declare an attack ? C) If so, do I *have* to assign Rik ? D) If I don't *have* to declare an attack, but choose to do so stilll, do I have to send Rik. ? If I can't (he's bowed for whatever reason), do I lose 2 honor ?

At any time, you only have to declare an attack if you have not already done so, and you only have to assign that unit if you have not already done so. Rikugunshokan causes you an honor loss if and only if his unit did not assign at all during your turn.

Defensive Duty

Defensive Duty "Battle: Search your Dynasty Deck for a Personality card and put it face-up in the Province, discarding any cards already in that Province. Raise the Province's Strength by the Personality's Force. Discard the Personality when the battle ends."

Q1: Are Fortifications and Regions attached to the Province also discarded when Defensive Duty is played?

No. Cards attached to a Province are not "in" it. [p. 22]

Q2: After the Personality is discarded, when is the Province refilled?

Immediately. [ibid.]

Hitomi Hogai question

If Hitomi Hogai has a tattoo, could I move Gaijutsu no Shiryo (with tattoos attached) to Hogai? And if I can, can Hogai use those tattoos?

Ask again when Hogai has been released, please.

Broken Blades legality [JEFF?/DAVE?]

We already know BB won't be legal for GenCon, but what about the European Championship (and -hopefully- storyline tournament) at GenCon UK? IIRC this takes place on Sunday, September the 1st. It will be a close thing one way or the other. Can you confirm?

TIA, Kuni Mon

naval rules question

All these questions are answered pretty clearly on page 66 of the Dark Allies rulebook.

Does being all naval on defense allow me to take the first action even if the attacker plays a sneak attack?

If a battle is made a Naval Invasion (by either player), no player may take actions (including Reactions) or bring cards into play between the start of the Battle Action Segment and the first Battle or Open action opportunity, except for Reactions to that action. If you're all Naval on defense and you decide to make the battle a naval invasion, Sneak Attack is illegal.

Also Does being all naval on defense allow me to take the first action if the opponent is all naval and also plays a sneak attack?

If both armies are entirely Naval, the battle cannot be made a naval invasion. That means the battle is completely normal, which means the Attacker can Sneak.

Strategic L5R at Gencon

How does strategic L5R work?

It's a cross between L5R and the Diplomacy board game. Each Clan is represented by equal-sized teams consisting of one Daimyo, one to three Generals, and sometimes a Karo (messenger- runner). There is a large central game map marked into Provinces, with markers on it to show which Provinces the different clan armies are located at. The Daimyo confer with each other and give orders to their Generals. Generals, in turn, move their armies to try to capture enemy Provinces and expand their Clan's territory. When two army markers meet on the main map and contest each other's presence, those Generals begin a game of L5R to represent the battle between those armies. Now, the game doesn't wait for them to finish, so those armies can stay locked in battle for several turns while everything else moves around them. The winning team is the clan that controls the most Provinces at the end of the game, with bonus points for home Provinces and for castles.

Flavor text on card submissions

When submitting ideas for new cards, are we allowed/encouraged/discouraged/hunted down with extreme prejudice if we include flavor text along with the card text?

There's close to a 0% chance it will be used. Apply that information as you will.

Yobi was to be a courtier

Don't forget he is also a Tactician, non-unique which is good enough in it's own. Also, another courtier, especially one that ties into an already proven theme deck, would allow Lion access to courtier cards without having to hurt the Dyansty deck at all with having to add extra cards. I think no courtier trait was definetly the way to go with this guy and his stats. However, if Ash had wanted a courtier, he supposedly had the right to choose, and I think he should have got it, just not an addition onto the current card.

We tried to accomodate player requests as much as we could, given that the Strict Gold environment has a lot of restrictions on it that weren't foreseen when the original submissions were collected. Courtiers are going to play more and more parts in the game as Gold develops, and Lion is not one of the Clans we want to be particularly good at utilizing them. Plus my report of Ash's request made it look like an "either/or" request, not both.

Rules Q - Traits and Actions

Just to double check.

An action performed by a personality does not inherit that personality's traits, right?

Only an ability printed on a card inherits that card's traits ... am I on the right track here?

You have a remarkable aptitude for reading the 34th page of rulebooks, sir.

Hence: Bayushi Aramoro making me discard cards from my province is a Ninja Action.

But Bayushi Aramoro challenging me to an Iaijutsu Duel is not, because Iaijutsu Duel lacks the Ninja Trait on its card, and the Action is Iaijutsu Duel's ability, not Aramoro's, right?

Right.

Rules question...

When a samurai personality commits seppuku, can this trigger off something which targets a dying personality, like a 'Memorial' which only gets triggered when the personality dies? In other words, with a Memorial in play, can a player have a samurai commit seppuku, and have a net gain/loss of 0 honor?

Samurai seppuku destroys the samurai, so a Reaction such as Memorial is legal.

Snow Crane Tattoo

Alright, now that the relevent text is there... am i right in thinking that the tattoo doesnt have to be on the personality in the duel in order to use the reaction?

You are right.

Also, am I right in thinking that you may use multiple snow crane tattoo reactions to the same focus value being revealed?

Right again.